The heir to Jasad, a province that has been forced into near nonexistance, is living in Nizal, a rival province, where she must keep her identity and magic secret. The Prince of Nizal, Arin, is suspicious of her as they are born enemies and in Nizal they have shunned the use of magic. It was an intriguing political setup, but I'll be honest I didn't really understand the point of the tournament besides something to happen, and I felt like the magic system could've been explained better. There is a romance element that is slow burn which I usually like, but it was a bit too long for the first book in a series and there were def some parts early to midway on that dragged. I might eventually listen to the sequel on audio whenever it comes out (but I'm also not sure how long this series is so...)